Milling machine transmission and control



Jan. 25, 1949. E. D. VANCIL ET AL 2,459,977

MILLING MACHINE TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL Filed March 6, 1944 5Sheets-Sheet l FIGJ IN VEN TOR.

EoaAn D. VANCIL BY Faro AHAssumM ATTORNEY.

Jan, 25, 1949- E. D. VANCIL ET AL. 2,459,975

I MILLING MACHINE TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL Filed March 6, 1944 5Sheets-Sheet 4 37 I2 INVENTOR.

foam D. VAucu. BY FRED A. HASSMAN ATTORNEY.

Jan. 25, 1949. E. D. VANCIL ETAL 2,459,976

MILLING MACHINE TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 6,1944 INVENTOR. Emma D. Vmcu. y FRED A. HASSMAN ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 25, 1949 MILLING MACHINE TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL Edgar D.Vancil and Fred A. Hassman, Cincinnati,

Ohio, assignors to The Cincinnati Milling Machine Co., Cincinnati, Ohio,a corporation of Ohio Application March 6, 1944, Serial No. 525,282

1 Claim. 1

This invention pertains to transmission and control mechanism formilling machines.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide an improvedfeed and rapid traverse transmission for a vertical spindle sliding headknee and column type milling machine.

Another object is to provide in a milling machine, having a movable workholder with a change feed and rapid traverse transmission locatedtherein, an'improved mechanism to eiiect feed and rapid traversemovements in the work holder and spindle carrier.

And stillanother object of this invention is to provide in a millingmachine having a knee, saddle, and. table, and a spindle head movable onthe column. of the machine with a change feed and rapid traversetransmissionin the knee, an improved means' for selectively connectingsaid transmission to actuate said knee, saddle, table and head inrelative feed and rapid traverse movements.

And a' further object is to provide a milling machine of the verticalspindle sliding head knee and column type having a change feed and rapidtraverse transmission in the knee, improved means controlled byoperating devices on the work supporting members of the machine forefiecting power actuation of the sliding head in feed and rapid traversemovements.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention should be readilyapparent by reference to the following specification, considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof and itis to be understood that any modifications may be made in the exactstructural details there shown and described, within the scope of theappended claim, without departing from or exceeding the spirit of theinvention.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference numerals indicate likeor similar parts:

Figure l is a right hand side elevational view of a typical verticalspindle sliding head, knee and column type milling machine embodying thefeatures of this invention. 7

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section of the verticalspindle head actuating mechanism on the line 22 of Figures 1, 3, 4, and5.

Figure 3 is a vertical enlarged fragmentary section on the line 33 ofFigures 2, 4, 5, and 6.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged section on the line 44 of Figures 1,2, and 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary enlarged section on the line 5--5 of Figures1, 2, 3, and 6.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary'enlarged section on the line 66 of Figures 1,3, and 5.

Figure 7 is a diagram showing the transmission gearing applied to themilling machine incorporating the features of this invention.

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the direction of power flow inthe milling machine organization incorporating this invention and theassociated control mechanisms for directing this power flow as desired.

, In machine tools and in particular in a milling machine it isnecessary to provide a series of movable machineelements which may beactuated at a plurality of feed rates and at rapid traverse rates toefiect relative motion of work and tool to performa machining or milling.operation. The problem of providing an efficient and simple actuatingtransmission mechanism foreffecting these relative movements iscomplicated by the large variation in rates of movement of these membersand that the members are each movable relative to each other. Anappropriate driving transmission must be provided incorporating theselarge speed variations and which will also permit freedom of movement ofthese members relative to each other.

' In providing an operating transmission for these members difficulty isencountered with the flexibility and yieldability inherent in such atransmission capable of wide speed variations and accommodation forrelative movements of the members to be actuated As a result, inaccuratemachining operations, chatter, and vibration occur in the machine tool,causing imperfect work to be performed by the machine. Therefore, inorder to minimize these deleterious efiects a change feed and rapidtraverse transmission is provided which is located in the knee of themilling machine and which is driven by a single constantly operatingshaft driven by a prime mover located in the frame or column of themachine to in this way provide a simple power transmission from theprime mover to the mechanism in the knee readily adapted to accommodateitself to the relative movement of the knee on the machine column. Thissingle drive shaft is continuously operated at relatively high speeds toreduce the overall size required for the shaft for the power to betransmitted, which results in reduced cost of manufacture.

In thus providing an efficient change feed and rapid traversetransmission in the knee for the work holding members of the millingmachine the problem of providing actuating mechanism for the slidinghead or vertical spindle carrier having a motor pulley 211 membersofthe" machine to efiect'th appropriate desired operation in the spindlecarrier.

For purposes of illustrating an exemplary embodiment of this invention,there is shown ljig ure 1, a typical knee and column typ'e' milling;

machine having a column lllha vertical guideways ll upon whi v pslidably mounted the knee! a (1 Qri tdpfo'f; which knee is providedguid'eways I3' carrying a ro ria e.

the saddle 4 for transverse movement in and out relative to the columnID. on 'guide'w'ays l5 formed in the saddle I4 is slidably mounted the,work table it for reciprocation normal to the" traverse movement pftheisaddle lfl on th eilgnee. Mounted on appropriate guideway s llivofithe up per portion of the column I I1 is thevertical s pv dle carriersor sliding head 18, carrying the vertically journaled cutten'spindle 15.

The power for actu ting the me hiziefis' de rived from a'primemoveror or@OgFig was were el 22 for continuously" rotatilrigthe rnai'n drive p11}:1

ley 23. This uney 23 contains a ent tioiial clutch and. .brake\mechanism for site ing or stopping or. rotation ofhthe rnain spindledrive shaft 24, This driye shaft'zfi through a conventional chtransmission indicated; diagram to rotate the cutte isiiiaiegiaiat:appropriate e 1- ting- Speeds, since. th'e slpecificldetaile' ture of this, change; "ea spindle forms no particularjpart ofth' further detailed description ofth i deemed nec'ssarylw The drive.ior effecting the". feed traverse movements ofjth' workjholding nismcomprising thekrife [tithe addle the same is; and t tool "carne 'dmp 1'vertical spindle carrier or head "3,

journaled against axial movernentllin the dpminri it ofthe machine.rheshart.sl ha aisplified guideways lQl of mmri ragtime,mashi g. v

The bevel gear 3sinturn drives a mating'rb'evel gear ssfixed enticeinput drive shaft 35 journaled in the knee, n i,

It can thus be seen that lallipower, iorefiecting feed and, rapid"movements;is derived fromi the prime mover 2i} andtransmittedthroughthe sin;- gle power transmission train ,comprising the ear-s 26-3, shaft. 2 e l8 1 51-3 5 7 3. 1 gears 33-34 to the input, shaflt jfThus, the single shaft 3i provides the complete feed and rapid traversedrive to th'ewknee'for effecting all of the feed and rapidtraversemovemenfi Oi t e movable work andvtool carrying members of themilling machine; Itwill bencted l hatithis single power train or shaft3| is constantly dr ven at a s vertically uniform rate and is preferablydriven at a relatively high rate so as to transmit relatively largeamounts of power with relatively small sized shafts and gears, thusminimizing the material consumption irrjc'onstructingthe mechanism. Itis alsoto' be notedthat this single input drive is constantly operatingat a uniform speed regardless of the rate of feed being utilized orwhether a I rapid transverse movements are being efiected for anyof'themovable members of the machine.

In the knee 52, Figure 7, is provided a feed. and: rapid"traversejf'transmission which receives sm gma/er from the shaft 35. The rapidtraverseportionof the transmission comprises a gear 36 freely jou'rnaledon the, shaft 35 and 'conhecta'ble or'disconnectable from drivingrelationship with the shaft by mean-s of a suitable: clutch- Elwhich maybe actuated by appropriate: central levers 38 and 39 mounted on theknee: IZ'a't the'front and reaif'the'recf for convenience or theoperatori; These control leversfss aiid39; may e connected througha'rfop'eratiifigrod 40 slida {mounted i nthekn" l'2which 'in turn.

actuatesaj shifting'fle'ver 4| for propriately a'c'- d traveisec1ut'ch'3'7'tocaus'e the"- et nsthr ii ea s? to b rotated by the shaft'35 "or to be disconnecteditherefroml, The gear 3fi" is constantly inmes'lilwith tlie gear 43"fi2ged on the tpqt' hart l'fjour'naledin"theilinee'l so that theshaft 42 will be rotatedtrapidly" ata" rapid traverse ratewhen the glut'ch31 is appropriately op: ate'difThe mechanism: just described cons ng of the clutch a ridtlie gears 3643 comes a rapid traverse transmission located in ,Th r cease-re d ra il of the feed and rapiditraverse tr emission isfindica'ted eneral atzikai is s me and'receivesits power input froiri' a gear 45' fixed wi li/sham rirhi rdrives a ear 5' b i' Onfa'sif able input sha ft'd'lioithefchange' feed n mi s on ,Sinr ai v e is t ansmission m 'y' be up; 7 dai'id th sis il p n nopartoif s. believe r nei ylw j r h transmissiongig n det il; Itjis en dsu'ificient to say that power fro the inputsh'ait 4? of; the chan e fee r je m 5 44; pa e th t train missi n pd; ybe varietie suit the" feeds requiredpi thelworl; h'ol drs' and toolcarrier of the; mac neb ea s1 r u ei i d t 'cpm 'ollev r 5 and 12 qli ecq thrcuerisuitif n ech ni m; ndiqa edndies am ly at Md; The yai iopsfeed chanses selected by levers Ma and M bpass out through the output itof liqt ansm tss n ii Th was shaft 48' is connected through anoverrunning lut 59 211 mmqz Quiputd ire haf 4 I 1 .7 I ha sw d t i s.-

ls subse wea th ams? a r wit 31 a 110100111166 7 e 1fifltas aiiratt a e.$11 us misread rate than the speed atwhi normally rotated by ep an e dan m s i n. A soon, howevenas the rapid tra erse clutch 3? is disengaged feed power willa'utomatically be taken up by connection of theshaft lfi'through the overrunning clutch 49 to the shaft 42. The mecha-J that the feed and rapid traverse transmission mechanism'in the kneecomprises a rapid traverse transmission and a change feed transmissionconnected in parallel between the input shaft and the output shaft 42 soas to readily effect rapid traverse or feed movements in the outputshaft 52. A feed and rapid traverse transmission is thus provided in theknee of the milling machine.

The change feed and rapid traverse movement provided in the shaft 52 maybe selectively connected to actuate the knee l2, the saddle i i, theWork table I6, and the vertical spindle carrier 18. On this commonoutput drive shaft 42 is provided a pair of gears 58 and 55, Figure '7.The gear 5i drives a gear 52 carried on the table actuating splineshaft53 journaled in the knee l2 and 3 power from this shaft 53 .istransmitted through appropriate bevel gearing'EA and 55. in aconventional manner to the shaft 56 having a bevel gear 51 whichengages, appropriate reversing bevel gears 58 and 59 for'actuating thetable screw Bi? to effect motions ineither direction in the work tablel6. An appropriate reversing clutchGl may be operated by a controll'everfiZ to initiate the table -movement in one direction or the otheror to stop said movement.

The gear'52 in turn is connected to drive a gear 63 journaled on thecross feed screw 6 operating in a nut forming part of the saddle M'so asto effect the traverse movements in the saddle. Also, on the screw 64 isjournaled the driving gear 65 which is directly'driven from the gear 59on the shaft 42 so that it rotates in the opposite direction from thegear 63'. An appropriate reversing clutch 6! carried in'sliding drivingrelationship on the screw E l may be shifted by means of a suitablecontrol lever'68 into engagement with either'the gear 53 or thegear'fiii or to a neutral position to appropriate gearing 12 to the kneeelevating screw 9 13 which effects vertical reciprocation of the knee I2on the ways i i. An appropriate reversing clutch 14 is slidably' mountedin driving relationship on the shaft H and may be appropriately engagedwith either the gear 69 or the gear 19 or moved to a neutral position bymeansof a-contrcl lever for initiating and controlling the verticalmovements of the kneeifi. T

The vertical movements of the spindle carrier i8 on the ways I!iscontrolled-fromthe rapid traverse transmission and the change feedtransmission in the knee l2. .Inthe' knee i2 is journaled a shaft 16,Figures 1 and '7, having a gear H driven by the gear 52. The shaft Ithas appropriate bevel gearing l8 and E9, the latter of which gear isjournaled a ainst axial movement in the knee l2 and has a splined bore19a inwhich slidably operates in driving-relationship the vertical driveshaft 89 for the vertical spindle carrier actuating mechanism, so thatthe shaft 89 may be driven at all times for any relative verticalposition of the knee l2 on the column l9.

Referring more particularly to Figures 2, 3, and 7 the vertical shaft 89is journaled against axial movement in appropriate bearings 8i and 82 ina bracket 83 which is fixed rigidly to the column i 9 and may beconsidered for the purposes of th s inventionas forming an integral partthereof. On the upper end of the shaft 89 isformed a bevel gear 84 whichdrives a pair of reversing bevel pinions 85 and'86appropriately'journaled on suitable sleeves 81, 88 fixed in the housing83. A shaft 89 is supported in bearings 90, 9i, and 92 and at its righthand end Figure 3, in a pilot bearing 93 in the sleeve 83 and has asplined portion 89a upon which is slidingly mounted in drivingrelationship the reversing and disconnect clutch member 94 which may beselectively engaged with the bevel gear 85 or 86 or moved to a neutralposition. In this way reversible driving or stopping of rotation of theshaft 89 may be effected.

On the shaft 89 is'formed a worm 95 which engages a worm wheel 96,Figure 4, fixed on a shaft 91 journaled in appropriate bearings 98 and99 carried in thehousing 83. Formed on the inner end of the shaft 91 isa bevel gear :59 which, in turn, drives a bevel gear l9! fixed to thesliding head or'spindle carrier elevating nut H32 journaled in suitablebearings :03 and its carried inthe column if! of the machine. Operatingin the nut I92is the sliding head or spindle carrier elevating screwappropriately liked to the spindle carrier I8 by a suitably threadedconnection i236. Thus, when the nut I92 is rotated through thetransmission gearing just described the screw we may be moved upwardlyand downwardly and therefore the rigidly attached spindle carrier I8similarly actuated.

It can, therefore, be clearly seen that by appropriately actuating therapid traverse clutch 37, Figure 7, or by disconnecting this clutchshaft 42 may be actuated at rapid traverse or Various feed rates so asto drive the vertical spindle carrier 58 through the shaft 80 andassociated transmission gearing just described to effect similarmovements in the head up and down on the guideways I! in the column If).Thus, manipulation oi the control levers 38 or 39 on the knee willinitiate rapid traverse movement or stop the rapid traverse movementsand initiate feed movement in the spindle head l8 by operating theconnect and disconnect clutch 94, Figure.3, to connect one or theotherof the bevel gears 35 and 8 6. The head l8 may be arrested in movementby moving the clutch 94 to its neutral position. Thus, feed and rapidtraverse movements may be applied to the head and controlled by controllevers 38 and 39 mounted on the knee ii. of the machine. eed changes maybe made in the transmission 44 in the knee to effect different feedrates for the spindle head H! by manipulating the control levers 44a and44b on the knee.

The connect and'disconnect clutch 94 for the vertical spindle headmovement is actuated by the manual control lever lillcarried on a rockshaft HEB, Figures 3, 5 and 6, which has a pinion M39 formed'on it whichengages a rack H0 formed on the shifter rod Ill slidably mounted in'thehousing 83 and which extends toward the rear of the machine, Figure 3,where it has fixed upon it a shifter yoke HZ which operates thereversing clutch member 94. Thus, when the lever is in the neutralposition Hi1, shown in Figure 1, the clutch 9 will be in the neutralposition as shown in Figure 3. When moved to the position 597a theclutch member 94 will be in engagement with the gear 85 and when movedinto the position lfl'lb the clutch 94 will be in engagement with thegear 89 to thus effect reversal or stopping of the driving motion to theworm shaft 89. Associated with the rock shaft I08 is a spring-urgeddetent plunger H3, Figures 3 and 6, which operates in appropriate detentnotches H4 formed in the shaft l08=to assistin locating eitheshait fl lland hasfclutch teethJlS which 7 may be engaged with x nati n gclutchteeth .II9 forrned on a clutch sleeve lz fi fixed-to the Wormshaft e9. llh -han-d wheelyand sleeve U5 are axiallyslidable byprovision of aclearance space lZia which permits axial shifting .of thehand yvheel f so'that'whe n thelhand wheel is moved axially totherleft,Figure 3,-towardthe operator theclutchteeth HST- H9 --will.bedisengagedand that by moving the hand wheel vI [5;inwardly to.- .wardthe inachine or totherfightin F igure these clutch teeth 1 I;8-,-'l I Smay be engaged so that the Worm shafted may berotated-manuallyby thehand-wheel l 15. flIt is obvious that should-the-handvheel 115 beallowed to remain connected to the -worm shaitflaewhenrapid traversemovements were zbeingleffected to' actuate the spindle carrier- 18 whenmanipulating the leverjSBor 38,;Figure 7,,thattherapid rotation of theshaft; nd handwheel I 15 mightcause inju e a9 Mireill we e Auto natimeans is provide d so that when the control leverrwl is moved toeitherposition lil'la or glll'lb to perrnit- -power driving of the spindlecarrier gQBEthatthe hand-WheeI l 5 will be automatically shiited-axiallyto disengage the clutch Hague. ll his mechanism maycomprise a pinion v12i, Figure 3, journalednon a stud I22 fixed inqthe housing 83 whichengages a rack J23 vf oriner on the plunger ,LI 3 and vvhich engages acircular rack l 2; l iorrnegzl on a sleeve 125 slidably mounted onthewornrshaftBQ. Passing through -a diametral slot 126 formedinthe wormshaft 89 is an actuating cross pin J21 fixed to the sleeve i125 whichabuts against .a plunger |28 .slidably ,rnounted in a central bore IZBKf I-med in the shaft 89. flf he plunger A28, in turn, engages asecond cross pin [30 extending through a dia netralslot l 3lforrnedinthe. shaft 89 andwhich .is fix-edrinp shifter collar 1-32 slidablymounted -,n the ha e fl endl-es aptedit leneae h sleeve l lfiof the handwheel H5. 7

'- It will, therefore, be obvious that .upon rocking of the shaft 198innmanipulating the control lever lll'l that the detent plunger 113 willbe likewise reciprocated axially b l the detent notches HA, causingrocking of the pinion E2! and axial-sliding of the sleeve 125 on theshaft 139 which motion through the pm 121, plunger .-l23,-cross pinI-B Oandthe-shif tercollar I32 will cause the clutch sleeve l -L6 and itsassociated hand ii -heel H:5'to rbe moved axially vso ,as toautomatically disengage the clutch teeth l8:- .l llswheneverthe-lever ismoved to either of the positions lil'la and i011), the detent H4corresponding to these ;two operative positions :being of suficientradialrdistance frornthe axis of rotation of theyrock shaft Jill!.as to cause greater axialedisplacement of the plunger -l.l 3 than theneutral central position. .When the control jlever isin -the centralposition H11 the operator may pushthe hand .wheel (I I5 in to reen agethe ,clutch members Ill! and t9 ior n anual opera-V siisi e ilihaitliirier arack 1,39 (formed thereon yghioh engages the pinion portionl ELSE-formed on the crock .shaft L88. Thus, as thenspindle head moves,upwardly. under power the ahutmentasnrfaceI l 33 a of the lower dog its.will engage the plunger l3] v and move the rock shaft I08 into-fitsneutral position. Similarly, w war emcvsm n o th h ad il b limitedwhenthe suriace l34 a o f the upper.d og

.1134 mi ar y str ike the-plun J ie t shaftv .7 15 back t it neu ra ieesi Referring ;1 e .e e f t Fi ure wh ein i h wn di gremma cal i :flo i PO-e r m the prime mover 20 to the various actuableeele- -ments of-themillingvrnachiner it will he-notedmhat power from the prime mover isutilized torotateithe cutterspindle l vvhichis conneotable by means Q?h:; 1? -Pl .l1? three hi h i u i a t- '24 nd thechaee eeedrtren miss on1 1m the o mn erl qta s he sutter-snlnd es flza an d si s eed e. .tpi anes zata ee and a d traverse dr vi IZQWe r io 1th? knee,;saddle, tableand spindle lcarrier 4:8 is. derived from the. continuously ;;runningpulley driven by the-prime mover iflrandrpasses through a singletransmissiontmeans including shaftjzflarr 31 from-othe column totheinput drive shaft 65 in the knee l2.:Powervfrom:therinputshaft;Shin-the knee then divides, part of it goingthrough the rapid traverse transmissionand'clutch 31' thereof to thecommon. outputdrive shait at thepoint 42,

while the other portion of-the powers-transmitted from the shaft :35passesthroughthechange-feed transmission :44 locatedin "the knee throughthe overrunning clutchi49 and arrivesalso at-thecommon point .42.Itwillhenotedsthat this common pointior shaft? serves as thefeedandrapid traverse power supply pointgfor-theknee, saddle, table andspindle-carrier. =It-:is'toe b e further-noted that each "of the powertransmission lines from the point 42 has a reversingiand;disconnectingclutching device forrrendering'ther-feed. and rapid traversepoweriderived from ;the common pointali! selectively efiectiveforeachvone or group of the knee, saddle, table andzspindlecarrier ofthemachine. :It is tobe further notedzth-atthe control of all ofthese-four movablelrnembers,theaknee, saddle, table and spindle carrier,"is-effected in rapid traverse movement by .=control;-me chanismcomprising the-levers :38 and 39 on the knee land effectedinvariable-feed rates by thecontrol levers Ma and 44b onthe-k-nee. Thusall :feed and rapid traverse -movements .of said -*four movable membersofthemachine are controlled from control apparatus on the knee.

7 There has thus been providedanimprovedieed andrapid traversetransmission forasliding head vertical spindle milling machine in whicha 'feed and rapid traverse transmission located in the ,knee is drivenfrom the primemover =f0r rtating the cutter spindlehy a singleconstantly rotating d iv sha t spewin have rom he primev,nnverintliesalient:isi itraieer assuagetra erse transmission in theknee; and further that feed and rapid traverse power from saidtransmission is conveyed to a common point in the knee from which it maybe dispatched to efiect desired feed and rapid traverse movements in theknee, saddle, table and spindle carrier of the machine; and stillfurther to provide control apparatus for the feed changes and the rapidtraverse movement located on the knee for obtaining the desired rates ofrelative movement of the knee, saddle, table, and spindle carrier.

What is claimed is:

In a milling machine having a column, a knee and a spindle carrierslidably mounted on the column for movement toward and from one another,a saddle and table mounted on the knee, a spindle journaled in thecarrier, the combination of transmission and control means for thedifierent parts including a prime mover mounted. in the column, a clutchfor connecting the prime mover for actuation of the spindle, a commondrive shaft in the knee coupled for continuous operation with the primemover exclusive of said clutch, a variable feed transmission and a rapidtraverse train mounted in the knee for actuation by said drive shaft, acommon output shaft journaled in the knee, means for selectivelycoupling the output shaft for actuation by the feed and transmissionand. rapid traverse train, means coupling the output shaft for actuationwith the carrier including a reversing clutch having a neutral position,a transmission train to the carrier including a shaft controlled by saidclutch, a hand wheel for rotating said shaft and control means includinga pinion, a three-position trip operable member rack connected to thepinion, a shifter for said clutch rack connected to the pinion, a detentresponsive to rotation of the pinion, means operable by the detent fordisengaging the hand wheel regardless of the direction of rotation ofthe pinion and a manual controlled lever connected to the pinion wherebyall the controls are interlocked through said pinion and said carriermay be translated regardless of rotation of the spindle.

EDGAR D. VANCIL FRED A. HASSMAN REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,670,413 Kniedl May 22, 19281,968,276 Armitage July 31, 1934 1,976,136 Nenninger- Oct. 9, 19342,182,421 Armitage Dec. 5, 1939 2,217,671 Coflin et a1. Oct. '15, 19402,308,647 Curtis Jan. 19, 1943 2,327,404 Curtis Aug. 24, 1943 2,344,529Armitage Mar. 21, 1944 2,393,928 Nenninger et a1. Jan. 29, 1946

